Chester 10 Wharfedale 3

WHARFEDALE were left to rue not taking their chance as they lost a close-fought National League Two North encounter.

The spent much of the second half camped in Chester territory but could not convert pressure into points.

Chester had the better of the opening exchanges and went ahead with a penalty from Liam McGovern after eight minutes.

Wharfedale levelled the scores when full back Robbie Davidson kicked a 26th minute penalty.

Parity lasted for just four minutes. Chester gained what proved to be the decisive score when Andrew Baston broke a couple of half tackles to score. McGovern’s conversion made it 10-3.

Despite plenty of hard work, especially from the forwards, Dale could not make inroads into Chester's lead.

The wet conditions contributed as handling errors were made by both sides.

Wharfedale's pack played with purpose but the team have got to learn how to turn good work into tries.

The Wharfedale eight drove Chester back and won penalties at the scrum. Both props, Reece Ward and Toms Asejevs, were magnificent at the set piece.

New boy, Jordan Annett, gave a solid performance at stand-off while centre Joel Gill was the pick of the backs.

Analysis of the stats again show that Wharfedale were competing throughout the game.

Both packs were 100 per cent on their own ball but Wharfedale drove Chester back in the second half and five of the seven scrums resulted in penalties.

Dale were also accurate at the line-out. Only one got away, but its points on the board not statistics that determine the outcome of matches.

Wharfedale will be analysing their performance at training and looking for the answers.

This was the second game when Dale did not get full value for the pressure they applied. The Otley game, back in September, was another, when Dale had the upper hand, but lost.

The Chester supporters were honest in their comments after the match and all said that a draw would have been a fair result.

The Chester skipper, Andrew Ford, summed up the game by using the old cliché that “it was a game of two halves. We dominated the first half but did not score enough points and Wharfedale dominated the second half and did not score any points.

They will be hoping their efforts are better rewarded when Blaydon visit the Avenue on Saturday.

Wharfedale R Davidson; Wellock, Gill, Davidson, Cicognini; Annett, Woodhead; Asejevs, Stockdale, Ward, Rhodes, Howard, Hedgley (Borrill 74), Tyson, Whyte (Graham70). Replacements (not used): Jake Parkinson, Kieran Frost, Archie Hancock.